Housing situation of older adults in a vulnerable neighborhood in Santiago de Cuba. Differences based on skin color, gender and age

Purpose The Cuban population is going through a process of demographic change and accelerated aging, which, together with a difficult economic situation, places the older adults in a complex economic reality, especially in the most vulnerable communities. This paper aims to analyze the housing situation of the older adults in a vulnerable community in Santiago de Cuba during a period of particular economic difficulty. Design/methodology/approach The study analyzes the housing situation of a sample of people over 60 years of age ( n = 325) in a vulnerable community in the city of Santiago de Cuba. A structured interview was used for data collection. Findings The results show that most of the people over 60 years of age interviewed considered their homes to be in a poor state of repair. A significant part of the homes were built with precarious materials and had cracked walls, leaks, problems with the functioning of the toilet, broken pipes, etc. In addition, most of the houses were poorly equipped, with a large number of them lacking refrigerators, cell phones or computers or other electrical appliances (heater, shower, stove, etc.). Women, people with black skin and people over 75 years of age were in a particularly precarious housing situation. Social implications Demographic changes and the expected aging of the population in Cuba mean that meeting the needs of the older adults is expected to become increasingly complex. The design of public policies and administrative management should take into consideration the housing needs of people over 60 years of age in vulnerable communities, with special attention to women, racialized people and older adults. Originality/value The research was conducted based on the information provided by a particularly vulnerable group in Cuba (older adults), about which there is limited information available, and the data were collected during a particularly challenging time for the Cuban economy: the post-COVID-19 pandemic period. The challenges of conducting research of this nature in Cuba and the period during which data collection took place form the basis of the originality of this manuscript.